REVIEW: Heavy Heavy Low Low – Pain Olympics [2025]

Artist: Heavy Heavy Low Low
Album: Pain Olympics

My first thought sitting down to start this article was something along the lines of “Heavy Heavy Low Low are a band that need no introduction…” But, it hit me, with just about seventeen years in the books since their last release, Turtle Nipple and the Toxic Shock, for many folks just getting into the more chaotic side of -core music, an introduction might actually be needed. Suffice it to say that Heavy Heavy Low Low were (and are) one of the mid-to-late-2000s’ most adored underground acts, and considered by many (including myself) to be a seminal band for mathcore and its whitebelt cousin. Now, almost two decades since their last studio release, and six years since the band first announced their reunion, we are collectively graced with Pain Olympics, the sonic older sibling and spiritual successor to Turtle Nipple, as well as the remainder of Heavy Heavy Low Low’s legacy. Expertly balancing focus, fury and more than a little bit of chaos, Pain Olympics is the band’s most well-rounded effort to date—and bound to ensnare longtime fans and new listeners alike.
The sonic barrage begins the moment the listener presses play on “I’m So Bad at Goodbyes,” as a wave of feedback segues into pummeling drums and harshly belted yells—and realistically, once Heavy Heavy Low Low get started, they hardly ease up. Across the 12 tracks and 18 minutes of runtime, the listener is severed and flattened by razor-sharp guitar and steamrolling percussion. On one hand, tracks like the lead single “I Go Where I’m Kicked” and “Mouthful of Soup” favor primal fervor and immolation chaos as their weapons of choice, where “Chip’s Journey” stars a dancy lead riff vaguely reminiscent of …Fuck It?!-era Heavy Heavy Low Low. Between the two relative styles, the band oscillate back and forth in a wonton, unpredictable fashion, hellbent on giving the listener a detailed tour of the edge of their seat. “Soft & Obedient” is another fever dream of a track that balances groove and the slow, smoldering devolution into total insanity. These things should come as no surprise to those versed in the band’s discography—but what is a surprise is how much tighter and more cohesive the band sounds now after a decade+ hiatus. Taking the off-the-wall, vaguely surf-rock influences from Turtle Nipple and throwing them in a blender alongside the sassy, sing-along insanity that defined records like Courtside Seats to the Greatest Fuck of All Time, Pain Olympics evokes a whimsy of “good ol” mathcore with the same flailing, violent instrumental tendencies only a band like Heavy Heavy Low Low could provide in earnest.
This is more personal opinion than verified fact, but if I had to select one of the most stand-out voices from the 2000s era of mathcore, it would likely be Heavy Heavy Low Low’s Robbie Smith—and that same voice holds true, even in 2025. Smith’s efforts throughout Pain Olympics are arguably his most diverse and mature, even where songs like “Soft & Obedient” and “Mouthful of Soup” take lyrical turns towards the bizarre. Shrill screams and raw, visceral yells trade blows at the listener’s eardrums, especially on some of the record’s shorter cuts like “Neck Pillow Suitcase” and “Costco High.” The stand-out track, “Hospital Bed Blues,” hits the listener something like a spiritual successor to “Tragic Tragic Track Jacket,” not so much in content, but in intent. A slow, melancholic meander in unsettling melody defines the track, feeling like something between a declaration of love and a eulogy. Sandwiched between “Vomited Soul” and “Costco High,” it was just about the last thing I expected—but it stands as one of Pain Olympics’ most memorable moments.
In the throes of the “revival era,” where angel-statue metalcore, MySpace deathcore and whitebelt sass are all getting the 2020 redux, I’m relieved to see Heavy Heavy Low Low making practically no attempt at chasing the dragon of tracks like “Tell Shannon Her Crafts are Ready” and “There’s a Bat.” While comparisons to truly genre-defining tracks like those are impossible to avoid, Pain Olympics is an excellent album that stands on its own merit, and takes the chaotic, zany ethos of tracks like the aforementioned and channels it into something that is both off-putting and totally engrossing. Pain Olympics is, for lack of a better term, exactly the Heavy Heavy Low Low record that makes sense in 2025, and it exceeds my own already-high expectations—making it something to be sure to experience.

8.5/10
For Fans Of: Blood Brothers, Gnostician, Duck Duck Goose
By: Connor Welsh